after the original building was destroyed in wwii, the schauspielhaus stuttgart was rebuilt from 1959 to 1962, following an architectural competition. the building, with its octagonal auditorium layout, is under heritage protection.
in 2008, klaus roth architekten began a substantial refurbishment of the entire building, to update both its interior space and its technical equipment, including the stage, auditorium, foyers and staff rooms.
in the auditorium, deficiencies in the acoustics and visibility that resulted from excessive room volume and inferior sloping of the seats, were removed by raising the seat levels and installing new interior cladding. in the entrance area, all required functions – bar, cloak rooms, lounge and merchandising stalls – were unified in space-defining structures of exposed concrete and wood surfaces.
the auditorium itself is designed as an intimate room, whose triangular-faced enclosing overcomes the separation of wall and ceiling and creates a prismatic structure spanning the entire room. the material is a dark-brown wenge finish that is in vivid contrast to the light oak wood wall claddings of the foyers.
700 led-panels are integrated into the folded structure of the auditorium roof, dematerializing the structure through their illumination and introducing the audience to the atmosphere of the upcoming play. the floor and the backs of the seats are done in natural oak, while the upholstering of the seats is in a dark blue fabric.
the foyers are divided into an upper and lower area in line with the historical configuration which is also expressed in the proportion and construction of the new alloy-framed glass façade.
while in the lower foyer tougher materials, such as exposed concrete and granite, are employed, the upper foyer gives a preview of the intimacy of the auditorium by sporting a grey carpet floor in combination with light, natural oak panels on the walls.